Any of You Hill-Tards Ever Heard of A Potato Gun?

[VeeJay]

...or "tater gun?"

I was in Myrtle Beach SC this week with a crackpot assortment of quasi-business associates. At a dinner one night we got off on a conversation about tater guns. A Jeff Foxworthy-soundish dude told us about his experiences firing tater guns.

That's all it took. When my gang got back in the office yesterday, tater gun terminology began dominating our thoughts and future plans for making stuff.

Apparently tater-gunnage is a sub-culture in and of itself. Here are some prototypes I have found on the innerweb. The Foxworthy soundalike said he fired one which left a hole in his mom's carport awning at her beach cottage in Virginia. This afternoon, we began coming up with names for our own creation after seeing what's out there. I like "The Spud Shuttle" and "The Russet Rocket." Carpool Guy dragged me into Lowe's today after lunch looking for igniters, 3" PVC sections, and blasting caps.


http://www.americanaircannons.com/catalog/john_bazooka.jpg


http://www.duke.edu/~jwc13/images/tennis3.jpg


http://www.spudgunextreme.com/Video/nb_1.jpg


http://www.crainium.net/jdjArchives/PotatoGun.jpg


http://www.cannon-mania.com/images/Pumpkin/p-cannon4.jpg

[olevetonahill]

I just a Hillbilly :O all Ive ever done was acid Bombs.Actelyn Bombs and Driveshaft Cannons ,
The PoPos Made Me Take em home !:cool:

[Frozen Sooner]

Heard of tater guns.

Built tater guns.

Put a hole in the courtyard fence at the fraternity house with a tater gun.

The stationary bike powered tater gun makes me feel good inside.

[Mjcpr]

Somebody just asked me this earlier today!

[Newbomb Turk]

I have one in the garage.

not as elaborate as the ones pictured.

[Newbomb Turk]

I have one in the garage.

not as elaborate as the ones pictured.

[Newbomb Turk]

I don't have two.

[VeeJay]

Sorry mods - didn't mean to put this up twice.

[GottaHavePride]

Lemme tell you a little story about a friend of mine and Shooty McTuber.

Definitely not as complicated as the ones pictured. PVC pipe. One endcap. A couple of holes drilled in it. Ignition courtesy of a lighter help up to one hole. Propellant? Ether.

So, the gang had all been out around Lake Dirtybird terrorizing the local wildlife with Shooty McTuber; a good time was had by all. On the way back into Norman they disassembled Shooty and held the barrel out the window while in transit (to clear out any remaining ether, making indoor storage less risky.)

So they return to the apartment and everyone is having a good time and a few beers. One member of the crew, let's call him "Shiny", is not paying close attention to the proceedings. Another guy, we'll call him The Dude, is explaining how Shooty McTuber works to a couple of the less informed females who have arrived by that time. So to demonstrate how the cannon is fired and impress the ladies, The Dude holds the lighter up to the firing hole and lights it up.

Shooty McTuber was not done for the evening. The leftover ether fumes lit off inside the apartment. Luckily, Shooty McTuber was not loaded, but there was a nice fireball out the end of the barrel.

In the aftermath, they found Shiny curled in the fetal position with his pint glass of beer up to his ear and beer poured all over the side of his head.

Good times.

[Vaevictis]

We built a pumpkin launcher for intro to engineering.

It had a 12 foot barrel, was powered by compressed air, and shot pumpkins 600 ft. It was fun stuff.

[GottaHavePride]

That sounds Mythbusters-worthy. :D

[Vaevictis]

Folks next to us had a 3 foot barrel and were firing like 800 feet... but they were using explosives.

[VeeJay]

So far the only propellants I have heard used are Aquanet and WD-40.

[Jimminy Crimson]

It's all about the Aqua Net!

[SoonerInKCMO]

There are several pages in The Von Hoffmann Bros.' Big Damn Book of Sheer Manliness (http://www.amazon.com/Hoffmann-Bros-Damn-Sheer-Manliness/dp/1575440504/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205550730&sr=1-1)that show one how to build a tater gun.


I highly recommend the rest of the book as well.

[olevetonahill]

So far the only propellants I have heard used are Aquanet and WD-40.

Then you aint Payin attention !:eek:

[olevetonahill]

I was drunk ! ( go figure )
It was the 7-4 Holiday time
I had My Driveshaft Cannon set up .
Unbeknownst to Me . At the Time I set off said Cannon . Local PoPos were In the middle Of a Drug Bust.
After they all went Home and Changed Unis . I was told to take said Cannon Outta Town !

[stoops the eternal pimp]

The one me and my brother built as kids sounds similar to GHP's..Nothing complicated or nice looking but it did the damage..

[Rhino]

Unless I'm incorrect, they're illegal in Oklahoma.

A friend of mine got into some big trouble back in 1996 for shooting one.

[StoopTroup]

Unless I'm incorrect, they're illegal in Oklahoma.

A friend of mine got into some big trouble back in 1996 for shooting one.

Is he out yet? ;)

[StoopTroup]

Some good footage...

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[StoopTroup]

My Grandma says "To Heck with Tater Guns! I'll fill ya full a lead!"

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[OUbones]

Oh the memories.... On another note was granny cloe enough to her target or what?

[DoubleDown]

I have a former brother-in-law that got about 20 yards from the business end of a potato gun and asked me to fire it so he could see "how fast it comes out." Still one of the funniest things I've ever seen.